Young boy gets surprise visit from baseball hero in hospital

A young baseball fanatic has hit a home run after he was forced to undergo treatment for a nasty dog bite at a US hospital.

Ethan Cortez, 10, from Missouri was bitten on the face by the family dog two weeks ago, resulting in a visit to the emergency room and several stiches to his face.

“Our dog had bit him in the face during the night and so we had to take him in to get stitched up,” Ethan’s mother Charity Cortez told ABC, adding that the family had to make the tough decision to put the dog down.

Prior to his surgery, Ethan, a die-hard St Louis Cardinal fan, began reacting to his pain medication, and struck up a fateful conversation with a nurse who was treating him.

“The nurse, she was amazing. We just loved her, but St Louis and Chicago, we’ve got a little bit of a rivalry. She had said something like, ‘Oh I’m a Cubs fan.’ Then I saw him [Ethan] crying. I asked ‘Are you OK?’ and he said, ‘She’s a Cubs fan, Mum’,” Ms Cortez said.

Ethan’s father began filming his son’s reaction as he came to terms with the fact that his nurse didn’t back his beloved team.

Eventually the video, which was shared to Facebook, reached the closing pitcher for the St Louis Cardinals, Trevor Rosenthal, who arranged a surprise meeting with his biggest fan.

"He thought he was just going back for a doctor's appointment,” Ms Cortez said about the life-changing meeting.

“The kid has never been speechless in his life, until probably then. He was very shocked and overjoyed and I think very humbled that someone of that calibre would want to be with him."

Ms Cortez said Rosenthal and Ethan chatted about baseball, with the baseball pro giving Ethan tips on his pitching techniques.

"It was a great thing as his mum to be able to see that, especially after all the heartache over the past week, losing our pet," Ms Cortez said.

"It was pretty awesome."

Ms Cortez said the event had been “rough” on the family, particularly young Ethan, who felt that it was his fault the dog snapped.

“It's been kind of rough because we had to put our dog down. He [Ethan] felt like it was his fault. He jumped in bed with her and I don’t know if it startled her or what, with the way she reacted. He was a little freaked out and this was kind of his first time in the emergency room," she said.